The perfect Hedwig soundtrack

I have to admit, I have become a bit obsessed with the songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  This will eventually pass.  At one point, I was totally obsessed with the soundtrack to Zero Patience (a fairly obscure AIDS-related movie from 1993) and more recently with The Book of Mormon cast recording.  At any rate, I can't believe I nearly missed out on the chance to see Hedwig at Hart House.

While it is possible that the movie version really does reverse the order of the Wicked Little Town songs (starting with the Tommy Gnosis version and ending with the Hedwig version), this doesn't make a lot of sense dramatically.  So I would have resequenced the film soundtrack anyway, but then I got to thinking that Neal Patrick Harris sounds a bit more convincing as Tommy than John Cameron Mitchell, so I decided I would pull together songs from the official soundtrack plus the recent Broadway revival.  And then I went and found that most of the songs from a benefit CD called Wig in a Box are on Youtube (a good thing, since the original CD goes for over $200 on Amazon.ca, though a bit closer to $25 on Amazon.com).  While not all of the covers on Wig in a Box work, I did like Cyndi Lauper doing "Midnight Radio" and They Might Be Giants doing "The Long Grift," plus a couple of original songs were interesting.

Anyway, trying to reorder all the various songs into something closer to the Broadway version, I arrived at this sequence (drawing on the film soundtrack unless otherwise specified):

1. "Random Number Generation" Lena Hall with Tits of Clay (live)
2. "America the Beautiful" NPH in 2014 revival
3. "Tear Me Down"
4. "The Origin of Love"
5. "Deutschlandlied" NPH
6. "Sugar Daddy" NPH
7. "When Love Explodes (Love Theme from The Hurt Locker)" NPH
8. "City of Women" Robyn Hitchcock from Wig in a Box
9. "Angry Inch"
10. "Nailed" 
11. "Wig in a Box"
12. "In Your Arms Tonight"
13. "Wicked Little Town (Hedwig version)"
14. "The Long Grift" They Might Be Giants from Wig in a Box
15. "Hedwig's Lament"
16. "Freaks"
17. "Exquisite Corpse"
18. "Wicked Little Town (Reprise - Tommy Gnosis version)" NPH
19. "Milford Lake" Stephen Trask from Wig in a Box
20. "Midnight Radio" NPH*

* Really both the original and the 2014 revival version are very good, but I gave the nod to the revival, partly because I preferred NPH in the male voice and Lena Hall's backing vocals are pretty incredible.  I also liked the Cyndi Lauper version, but not quite enough to put in on my ideal mix.  I also think Alan Cumming does a solid version of Wig in a Box where he interspersed parts of Wicked Little Town, but that was just too much of a good thing.  I'm actually a bit surprised that no one has done much remixing of these songs.  It appears there is a EP with club and dub remixes of "Angry Inch" and also a remix of "Wig in a Box," but that's it as far as I can tell.  Maybe I should have ended with one of these remixes (the way Zero Patience does), but I came across them too late.

Wet Week

What a difference a day makes.  On Sat., I had been looking ahead to next week, and it looked completely clear.  I then heard on the news that Tropical Storm Nate had turned, barely sparing New Orleans (which is certainly a good thing) but that it will pass through Toronto, dumping a fair bit of rain on us Monday.  That's certainly unfortunate, as I had been considering going off to the movies (I'm curious about Blade Runner 2049).  I mean I can use tomorrow to watch the original (it's been a couple of years since I've seen it), but I'd rather not get stuck inside all day.

It is a bit more upsetting that Wed-Fri now look like they will have some rain, so I'll have to decide if I really will try to bike (I generally have to go to a number of public hearings on most evenings next week, so I probably wasn't going to be biking a lot anyway*).

It wasn't a super productive weekend, though I did find and file away some CDs and cleaned up the desk just a bit.  I also cooked and did the shopping.  The biggest event was hanging around and getting our internet upgraded.  I was kind of skeptical, but the speeds really are 3 times what we had and there seem to be fewer interruptions (knock wood).

I haven't really decided what I will do tomorrow if I don't watch Blade Runner (the original or the new one).  I probably should write more of my report and maybe do some creative writing.  I may also take the time to finish up the sock monkey, just so mentally I can move onto the next sewing task.

I am in just a bit of a lull in terms of theatre.  In a few weeks I'll be seeing a new George Walker play.  I've kind of decided to pass on Seven Siblings Future Fest, but maybe I'll have a change of heart.  I think the biggest question mark is whether I go see Life After, the new musical at Berkeley St. Theatre.  I generally pass on musicals (though I did finally get nosebleed tickets to Come From Away!), but the reviews have been very strong.  The only other thing on the immediate horizon is Bakersfield Mist, playing for a weekend in early Nov. (I believe at the Box).  I have some issues with the script (to say nothing of the Box!), but I know the lead actor and he's worth watching.  It may be that I end up seeing more concerts and holding off on theatre until Jan-March 2018, where things kind of explode (A Delicate Balance, The Humans, Jerusalem, Come from Away, etc.).  Anyway, lots to look forward to, and maybe, just maybe I'll buckle down to do my own writing.  I guess that is something good that might come out from a wet week.


* I'll have to step it up at the gym.  I am still going weekly, but I have cut back when I am biking to work a lot.  I'll definitely have to get back into the habit now that it is starting to get a bit chilly and dark in the evenings.  If I decide it's just too much of a bother to go, I will end up right where I was last spring, feeling gross about having gaining too much weight over the winter.

Quilt Completed!

I mentioned a few weeks back that I had completed the quilt top and I dropped it off to someone in Mississauga that specialized in longarm quilting.  It arrived a few days ago.  I was so excited, but due to attending a bunch of theatre events, I hadn't had a chance to look it over.  I only had a snapshot of what it looked like on the frame.

I talked to my daughter, and her preference was to wait until Christmas!  (I think she gets some of this tolerance for delayed gratification from me.)  Anyway, I thought I really had better take a look at it just to make sure there were no obvious problems.  She reluctantly agreed, and we opened the box today.  Here she is sort of hiding under the quilt. (You can see the pattern much better on the backing, which is the solid blue area to the right.)

While I do see a very few places I'll have to trim some threads and perhaps tie off a few more knots, it does look quite nice.  I did expect it to be a bit fluffier.  I'm sure it will be reasonably warm, but it would just supplement and not replace a blanket in the winter time.  Anyway, I can't even imagine how long it would have taken me to attempt to quilt the entire thing.

I have a few other tasks to do (aside from straightening out my music collection), such as finishing this sock monkey from a kit that my daughter won a few weeks back.  I'm closing in on it, but I haven't been feeling too inspired lately.  (Also, she kind of lost interest in it.  For a while, she was doing a big chunk of the sewing, but now it is all back to me...)

When this is done, maybe then I will cut out the fabrics for my son's quilt and see if it will go just a bit faster (than the first one).  Still I told him there was no guarantee it would be ready by Christmas.  Fortunately, he is understanding and can be patient as well.

Drowning in music

I suppose of all the ways to go, drowning in music wouldn't be so terrible.  It's a similar problem to having too many books (as discussed in this somewhat overlong post), though it seems somewhat easier to catch up by binge-listening to music than to try to read all the books on all the shelves!  But at its root, it is the same issue, trying to cover too much ground, be too cultured and to experience ALL the best of music, of art, of cinema, of literature, etc.  It simply can't be done in one lifetime.

But it is part of the sickness (of acquisitiveness) that that doesn't really matter.  I have a few box sets I have never opened, and yet if the right deal comes along, I will buy a new one.  And sometimes I am not even aware of already owning the music (so I have to check my old Amazon account and email trails to make sure I don't own something!).  I'll then go on a jag (which I am in the middle of at the moment) where I try to organize things better (the more I am aware of where CDs are stored, the more likely I am to listen to them) -- and even to sell off the music which no longer seems to hold my interest (though it must be said it is much harder than it used to be to sell off used CDs).  Currently, I seem to be missing a Sibelius set and a Tuby Hayes set from Proper,* and I don't think I will rest easy until I track them down.

One thing that has made things slightly better is that the Toronto library provides access to Hoopla (8 titles a month) and Naxos on-line (not sure if there is a monthly limit).  Usually if I can listen to a piece once, that is sufficient for me to check it off my internal mental list and I no longer have to own a copy.  I found it was possible to piece together the Klemperer Sacred Music box set through Naxos and Hoopla, so I was able to remove the actual CD set from my Amazon basket.  (I suppose it also helps a bit that shipping to Canada usually costs enough that I have to think a bit harder before impulse buying.)  I don't think I'll ever completely escape these obsessions, but I think (hope) I can keep it enough under control that I will not end up literally buried under a pile of CDs and LPs.

* I found them both after an hour of searching (neither where they were supposed to be naturally), but now I realized I am missing a Pierre Fournier set from EMI, but it is too late to look any more tonight.  I have also pulled together a fairly long stack of CDs I will try to sell off.  If can actually clear these out of the office (say by next week) I will definitely feel I accomplished something over the long weekend.

Stellar fall season

I've discussed The Aliens (at Coal Mine) at some length and briefly talked about The Fish Eyes Trilogy at Factory.  I suspect I will come back around to a more in-depth post on Fish Eyes later this weekend.  I thought Waiting for Godot was worth seeing, even though it wasn't the best production I've seen.  There is apparently a spin-off play at Theatre Passe Muraille called Let's Go: A G_dot Prequel which runs through this weekend.  I may go, though I am a bit exhausted from all the theatre.  I would definitely recommend both The Aliens and The Fish Eyes Trilogy, though I suppose if you could only go to one, I would plump for The Aliens, though it closes this weekend!  So many great choices this season!

Another quite amazing show (which I almost passed on) is Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Hart House.  There's a show tonight at 8 (which admittedly would be hard to get to) and one on Sat. at 8.  There may also be a 2 pm show on Sat.  I thought they did a fantastic job.  When Hedwig is singing in her female persona, the performer seemed to me just as good as the one on the cast album, and when singing as Tommy (and/or Hansel) the performer was actually better.  It is an edgy show and definitely not for everyone.  One of the more amusing (and a bit disturbing) moments is when Hedwig comes all the way out to row L or M and says, "You didn't think I'd make it back this far, did you?"  I think it's unlikely that Hart House recorded this (professionally at least), but I'd be willing to splurge on a Bandcamp release (hint hint).  I would say that overall, it probably makes the most sense to watch the show live (the best choice!) or the DVD rather than the album, as most of the plot, such as it is, is conveyed in between song patter that isn't on any of the soundtracks.

Fish Eyes

I'm running quite short of time this morning, so I'll keep this short.  I am just back from seeing The Fish Eyes Trilogy at Factory Theatre.  It's a very strong piece that fuses classical Indian dance (as well as Indian dance set to pop music) and theatre.  The three pieces focuses on 3 different students in Port Moody, BC (two of South Asian heritage and one Caucasian).  They interact in different ways (generally somewhat negatively), but generally it is the boys that really set them up against each other.  The pieces were written by and performed by Anita Majumdar, who takes on all the roles, effortlessly shifting from the girls to their boyfriends and then to the Aunty characters who are teaching the Indian girls to dance.  There is a lot going on in the pieces and I'll probably be thinking about this for a while.  I would encourage anyone who is even a bit curious about them to go check it out.  This is the first opportunity to see all pieces in one evening and in this particular order (in previous outings Fish Eyes had gone first).  I think this code will work for a discount for tonight's (Thurs Oct. 5) performance but not sure: MEENA20.

I didn't realize it, but there was a talk back, and Anita came out afterwards and talked a bit about different issues.  One thing that was interesting was that Port Moody (where she grew up) was so white that the ethnic students felt it was safer to assimilate rather than offer up a single target to the haters.  This was very different from Surrey, for example, where the schools were largely Asian and it was more of a personal choice whether to hang in predominantly white or Asian or mixed cliques.  I am not sure there will be more talk backs through the course of the run or not, but I wouldn't let that stop you from checking out the show.  The only drawback was that it was a long evening (particularly with the talk back) and I am tired, but I still have to run to get to work.

Recharging (& Cold Read Weekend)

I don't know that I truly successfully recharged this weekend, but I did get some rest.  I decided fairly early on that I was going to skip Nuit Blanche, as I just haven't been that interested in the art since the first one I saw a few years back.  I may still end up taking my son along for a few hours either next year or the one after, but I just wasn't feeling it this time around.

I actually had a few tedious chores this weekend, including trying to change the bulb on an obsolete ceiling light/fan.  I finally managed it, though I needed the internet to step in where the original company failed me.  I also had to dispose of a dead bird on my sidewalk.  Blech.

Anyway, Sunday was the first night of the restarted Toronto Cold Reads series.  Turnout was surprisingly low (and the main hosts weren't even in attendance).  Ultimately, I was gang-pressed into taking a part, which I don't normally do.  The main reason to go was 3Fest, where they did 3 of the plays (each written by 3 authors).  I suspect mine will be up in 3 weeks' time, so I'll have to block out that spot on the calendar.

Another neat feature of Toronto Cold Reads is that they have added a musical guest each time around, and they have been quite amazing.  This time it was Sabrina Soares, an Australian who has picked up and moved to Toronto, trying to make it into the entertainment business.  She has a lovely voice and pretty good stage presence for someone so young, so I suspect she'll do well.

My favorite musicians from last season were Skye Wallace (and sadly her Toronto stop on her current tour competes with another TCR reading, so I'll have to skip that) and Abigail Lapell, but all of them were very entertaining.

While Monday evening isn't technically part of the weekend, in my mind it all sort of flowed together.  I knew that they were going to put on Night Out, which was a short piece about modern cell phone usage.  It's a bit of a cliche to moan about jerks on cell phones in restaurants, but I tried to mix it up a bit and to keep the piece very short (it runs 5 minutes or so).  It went over really well.

I had been asked to submit another piece and I just finished up Mascots in time, but I never heard whether it was going to be on the line-up.  I might have tried a bit harder to get people to turn out had I known it was on the line-up.  At any event, I turned up and it had been added, which was super cool.  The actors really sold the piece, even some of the corny jokes.  So it was a pretty awesome evening to get two pieces on the line-up (plus there was some cake, since this was the 10th anniversary of the SFYS concept).  The crowd slowly trickled in, though we still seem down from the glory days over at Storefront.

While SFYS doesn't have musical guests, they do have a mentalist who turns up.  He's quite good, and this time around was particularly mind-blowing.  He had these big books, and the audience wrote down numbers and put them in a box.  Then there was some back and forth, shuffling the books.  Then a volunteer wrote down a number from 1 to 4, which then selected one of the books.  And the volunteer chose a number from the box, and opened the book to that page.  It had been torn out, and then ended up in the hat he was wearing.  This was perhaps the most impressive stunt yet, so I started to think how the mentalist could do it.

These are more theoretical SPOILERS than anything, but don't read if you don't want to ruin the magic.

I'm fairly sure that when drawing the number, it is fairly easy for a trained mentalist to distinguish a number between 1 through 4 that the volunteer/mark draws.  Similarly, the mentalist can just keep going with the shuffling of the books (and subtly urge the audience to pick the numbers that bring the book into the correct position).  So it shouldn't be that hard to pick the correct book.  Getting the correct page number is much harder.  Obviously, the single simplest way is to corrupt the mark and tell him or her which number to read.  But assuming that isn't what happened, the second simplest way to rig the game is to mess with the box so that every slip of paper in there had the correct page number.  (Generally, most of these mentalist things are a bit of misdirection, and no one really was paying any attention to the box of slips at that point.)  I don't think the mentalist touched the slips after handing over the box (so the tampering would have happened earlier), but sometimes there is a bit of sleight-of-hand where the mentalist intercepts the random slip that the volunteer picked and substituted the correct slip before it gets opened.  As I said, I'm fairly sure that didn't happen in this case.  If it isn't one of those three options, then I admit I am baffled.  At any rate, it was an impressive feat last night, and overall one of the more amusing SFYS I have attended.